THOMPSON IS READY

In hopes of being New York City's second Black mayor, Comptroller Bill Thompson officially became the Democratic candidate for mayor Tuesday night, taking 70 percent of the votes and beating City Councilman Tony Avella. At his victory party Tuesday night in Lower Manhattan at DC37 headquarters, Thompson received much praise from the city's largest labor union, which has given him a huge endorsement.

Thompson's victory speech sounded more like a challenge for Republican candidate Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Thompson thanked voters as well as Avella and laid out his plan to get into City Hall. "Eight years is enough, " said Thompson. "I'm ready to take on Mike Bloomberg. It's time for a change, New York. I'm running for mayor because in these tough times, we need a leader who's on our side. " Thompson added that the city could do better than Bloomberg, who he said has one set of rules for himself and another for everyone else. Thompson also highlighted how Bloomberg previously stated that overturning term limits was a disgrace and then "hijacked democracy. " He said, "You told us you'd fix our education system. But the fact is, you shut out parents, created test prep factories and left our children unprepared for the future. "

Highlighting a long list of failures of Bloomberg during his two terms in office, Thompson also spoke about how his opponent is using "pay-to-play"politics, failing to reduce homelessness, raising taxes and doing little about the city's high unemployment rate.

Bloomberg announced on Tuesday that he would participate in two debates with Thompson. The first one is scheduled for October 13 in East Harlem. However, Thompson challenged Bloomberg to take part in five debates, going to all five boroughs. The general lection for mayor will take place on November 3.